A series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 21:16, three suicide bombers struck outside the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

in Saint-Denis, during an international football match, after failing to gain entry to the stadium. Another group of attackers then fired on crowded cafés and restaurants in Paris, with one of them also detonating an

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

, killing himself in the process. A third group carried out another mass shooting and took hostages at an Eagles of Death Metal concert attended by 1,500 people in the Bataclan theatre, leading to a stand-off with police. The attackers were either shot or detonated suicide vests when police raided the theatre. The attackers killed 137 people, including 90 at the Bataclan theatre. Another 416 people were injured, almost 100 critically. Seven of the attackers were also killed. The attacks were the deadliest in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

since the Madrid train bombings of 2004. The attacks came one day after similar attacks in Beirut, Lebanon, and thirteen days after the bombing of a Russian airliner over the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. France had been on high alert since the January 2015 attacks on ''

Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; ) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publication has been described as anti-racist, sceptical, secular, libertarian, and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism ...

'' offices and a Jewish supermarket in Paris that killed 17 people. The

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

(IS) claimed responsibility for the attacks (as they had done with the Beirut attacks a day prior), saying that it was retaliation for French airstrikes on Islamic State targets in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and Iraq. The president of France,

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

, said the attacks were an act of war by the Islamic State. The attacks were planned in Syria and organized by a terrorist cell based in Belgium. Two of the Paris attackers were Iraqis, but most were born in France or Belgium, and had fought in Syria. Some of the attackers had returned to Europe among the flow of migrants and refugees from Syria. In response to the attacks, a three-month

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

was declared across the country to help fight terrorism, which involved the banning of public demonstrations, and allowing the police to carry out searches without a warrant, put anyone under house arrest without trial, and block websites that encouraged acts of terrorism. On 15 November, France launched the biggest airstrike of Opération Chammal, its part in the bombing campaign against Islamic State. The authorities searched for surviving attackers and accomplices. On 18 November, the suspected lead operative of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a police raid in Saint-Denis, along with two others.

Background

France had been on high alert for terrorism since the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting and a series of related attacks in January by militants belonging to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and had increased security in anticipation of the

2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the United Nations Climate Change conference, Conference of the Parties (COP) ...

, scheduled to be held in Paris at the beginning of December, as well as reinstating border checks a week before the attacks. Throughout 2015, France witnessed smaller attacks: the February stabbing of three soldiers guarding a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish community centre in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionattempt to blow up a factory in Saint-Quentin Fallavier, and the August shooting and stabbing attack on a passenger train. The Bataclan theatre had been threatened a number of times because of its support for Jewish organizations and Israel. Two Jewish brothers, Pascal and Joël Laloux, owned the Bataclan for more than 40 years before selling it in September 2015. In 2011, a group calling itself Army of Islam told French security services they had planned an attack on the Bataclan because its owners were Jewish. In the weeks leading up to the Paris attacks, ISIL and its branches had claimed responsibility for several other attacks: the downing of Metrojet Flight 9268 on 31 October and the suicide bombings in Beirut on 12 November. Intelligence agencies in Turkey and Iraq had reportedly warned of an imminent attack on France months beforehand, but said they never heard back from the French authorities until after the attacks. According to ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', a senior French security official said they receive this kind of correspondence "every day". This was one of two terrorist cells sent to Europe by the Islamic State in 2015, the other cell consisting of three Syrians was apprehended by German special police in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

in mid September 2016.

Attacks

Three groups of men launched six distinct attacks: three suicide bombings in one attack, a fourth suicide bombing in another attack, and shootings at four locations. The shootings were in the vicinity of the , the , the , the Bataclan theatre, and . Three explosions occurred near the , another on , and two of the Bataclan shooters also detonated their suicide vests as police ended the standoff. According to the Paris prosecutor, the attackers wore suicide vests that used acetone peroxide as an explosive. French police reports on cellphones recovered from crime scenes showed that the attacks were being coordinated in real time from

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, the location of origin of the terrorist cell that the Paris attackers were members of.

Stade de France bombings

Three explosions occurred near the country's national sports stadium, the

, in the suburb of Saint-Denis, resulting in four deaths, including the three suicide bombers. The explosions happened at 21:16, 21:19,The times for the first two bombings originally given at a press conference by the prosecutor of Paris François Molins on 14 November 2015 wer
21:20 and 21:30
However
video recording of the match
shows that the gap between the first and the second explosion was around 3 minutes and 10 seconds, the first explosion being heard at 16:24 after the start of the match, and the second at 19:34. These correspond to 21:16 and 21:19 local time, the game having started at 21:00. and 21:53. At the time, the stadium was hosting an international friendly football match between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, which President Hollande was attending. The suicide bombers arrived slightly late for the game, two of them wearing Bayern-Munich tracksuits as disguises, and eyewitness reports indicated they did not have tickets, resulting in them being turned away by security guards several times. The first explosion near the stadium occurred about 20 minutes after the start of the game. The first bomber, a man under the pseudonym 'Ahmad al-Mohammad', was prevented from entering the stadium after a security guard patted him down and found the explosive vest. A few seconds after being turned away, he detonated the vest outside the security gate, killing himself and a bystander. Investigators later surmised that the first bomber had planned to detonate his vest within the stadium, triggering the crowd's panicked exit onto the streets where the two other bombers were lying in wait. Three minutes after the first bombing, the second bomber, a man under the pseudonym 'M al-Mahmod', blew himself up outside another security gate after repeatedly failing to find and enter a crowd of people. Another 34 minutes after that, Bilal Hadfi's vest detonated outside a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

restaurant. Moments before, a woman encountered him in an alley and he asked her for directions to the McDonald's. As the explosion happened, people were being evacuated out of the McDonald's restaurant. According to some reports, the location of the third explosion was at a McDonald's restaurant, where over 50 people were injured, seven seriously; others state the bomb detonated some distance away from any discernible target. Hollande was evacuated from the stadium at half-time, while the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, remained at the stadium. Hollande met with his interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve to co-ordinate a response to the emergency. Two of the explosions were heard on the live televised broadcast of the match; both football coaches were informed by French officials of a developing crisis, but players and fans were kept unaware of it until the game had finished. Hollande, concerned that the safety of the crowd outside the stadium could not be assured if the match was immediately canceled, decided that the game should continue without a public announcement. Following the game, fans were brought onto the pitch to await evacuation as police monitored all the exits around the venue. Security sources said all three explosions were suicide bombings. The Germany national football team was advised not to return to their hotel, where there had been a bomb threat earlier in the day, and they spent the night in the stadium on mattresses, along with the France team, who stayed with them in a display of comradeship.

Restaurant shootings and bombing

The first shootings occurred around 21:25 on the and the , near the in the 10th arrondissement. The three Belgian-Moroccan attackers, including ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Brahim Abdeslam and Chakib Akrouh emerged from a rental SEAT León before killing the driver of a car in front of them and then proceeding to shoot at people outside , a café and bar. Next, they crossed the and shot people inside the restaurant . According to French police, an eyewitness said one of the gunmen shouted " Allahu Akbar". A total of thirteen people were killed at these locations, and ten others were critically injured. Afterwards, the assailants fled in the SEAT León. Doctors and nurses from the nearby Hôpital Saint-Louis were in when the attacks happened and supplied emergency assistance to the wounded. At 21:32, the attackers arrived outside , located close to the terrace of the Italian restaurant , on the . There, they shouted "Allahu Akbar" again and opened fire on revelers. The Paris prosecutor said five people were killed, and eight others were injured. An eyewitness reported seeing a gunman firing short bursts. The assailants then fled again in the SEAT León. At 21:36, the assailants arrived at the restaurant on the in the 11th arrondissement. They fired for several minutes at the outdoor terrace, before returning to the SEAT León and driving away. Twenty-one people were killed, and seven others were left in critical condition. Many of the deceased victims at the targeted restaurants and cafés had been sitting on the outdoor terraces when they were shot. At 21:40, Brahim Abdeslam was dropped off at the in the 11th arrondissement, near the . He sat down at the interior terrace of the café, wearing a hooded jacket over several layers of clothing. After placing an order, he smiled at patrons and apologized for interrupting their dinner. Finally, he detonated his explosive vest, killing himself and injuring fifteen people, one of them seriously.

Bataclan theatre massacre

Beginning at around 21:50, a

mass shooting A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

and hostage-taking occurred at the Bataclan theatre on the ''boulevard Voltaire'' in the 11th arrondissement. The American rock band Eagles of Death Metal were playing to an audience of about 1,500 people. Three dark-clad gunmen armed with three different types of assault rifles ( Zastava M70,

Norinco China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, doing business internationally as Norinco Group (an abbreviation of "North Industries Corporation"), and known within China as China Ordnance Industries Group Corporation Limited (), is a Chinese ...

Type 56-1, and an AKKS-47 rifle) had been waiting in a black rental car near the venue for more than an hour. The terrorists were three French natives of Algerian descent: Foued Mohamed-Aggad, age 23; Ismaël Omar Mostefaï, age 29; and Samy Amimour, age 28. As the band was playing their song "Kiss the Devil", the three men got out of the car and opened fire on people outside the venue, killing three. Then, they burst into the concert hall and opened fire on the crowd. Witnesses heard shouts of " Allahu Akbar" as the terrorists opened fire. Initially, the audience mistook the gunfire for

pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, Pyrotechnic fastener, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, q ...

. The band ran offstage and escaped with many of the crew. Rows of people were mowed down by gunfire or were forced to drop to the ground to avoid being shot. Survivors described hundreds of people lying beside and on top of each other in pools of blood, screaming in terror and pain. The gunmen also fired up into the balconies, and dead bodies fell down onto the stalls below. For a few minutes, the hall was plunged into darkness, with only the flashes from the assault rifles as the gunmen kept shooting. The terrorists shouted that they were there because of the French airstrikes against Islamic State. Another witness who was inside the Bataclan heard a gunman say, "This is because of all the harm done by Hollande to Muslims all over the world." A radio reporter attending the concert described the terrorists as calm and determined and said they reloaded three or four times. Two gunmen attacked the concert hall; one gunman provided covering fire while others reloaded, to ensure maximum efficiency. Whenever the gunmen stopped to reload, some of the crowd ran for the emergency exits, scrambling over each other to escape. Some were shot from behind as they fled, and the terrorists laughed as they shot them. Those who reached the emergency exit were shot by the third gunman, who positioned himself there. Other groups of people barricaded themselves in backstage rooms. Some smashed open the ceiling in an upstairs toilet and hid among the rafters under the roof. Those who could not run lay still on the floor pretending to be dead. According to survivors, the terrorists walked among those who were lying down, kicked them, and shot them in the head if there was any sign of life. An eyewitness reported hearing the gunmen ask amongst themselves where the members of the Eagles of Death Metal were once the gunfire stopped. Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefaï then went upstairs to the balconies, while Amimour stayed downstairs and fired at people who tried to flee. The Search and Intervention Brigade (BRI) arrived on the scene at 22:15, soon followed by the elite

RAID RAID (; redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical Computer data storage, data storage components into one or more logical units for th ...

tactical unit, . At 22:15, the first two responding officers entered the building armed with handguns and encountered Amimour, who was standing on the stage getting ready to execute a survivor. Amimour died after being shot by the officers and detonating his explosive vest. Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefaï then fired upon the officers, forcing them to withdraw and wait for backup. From this point, Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefaï took about twenty hostages and herded them into a room at the end of an L-shaped corridor located further in the building. They also seized the hostages' mobile phones and attempted to use them to access the Internet, but they were unable to find a signal. Some of the hostages were forced to look down into the hall and out the windows and tell the terrorists what they saw. During this time, Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefaï fired on police and other

first responders A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency. First responders typically include law enforcement officers (commonly known as ...

arriving at the scene. At 23:30, an elite police squad entered the building. One unit evacuated survivors from downstairs, while another unit went upstairs. They found Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefaï, who had begun using hostages as human shields. They shouted out to police the number of a hostage's phone. Over the next 50 minutes, they had four phone exchanges with a police negotiator, during which they threatened to execute hostages unless they received a signed paper promising France's departure from Muslim lands. The police assault began at 00:20 and lasted three minutes. Just before, Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefaï took some of the hostages with them to the stairwell at the other end of the L-shaped corridor while leaving most of the hostages between them and the police. Police launched the assault because of reports that Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefaï had started killing hostages. Police using shields burst open the door to the room and exchanged fire with Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefaï while managing to pull the hostages one-by-one behind their shields. Mohamed-Aggad fired from the top of the stairs while Mostefaï stayed with the remaining hostages in the middle of the stairs. During the police assault, most of the remaining hostages staying with Mostefaï took advantage of the chaos to run away from him. Mohamed-Aggad eventually dropped his rifle and detonated his explosive vest. Upon seeing his partner getting ready to detonate the explosive vest, Mostefaï tried running down the stairs. The explosion bisected Mohamed-Aggad's body and fatally wounded Mostefaï. Police shot Mostefaï several times when he started writhing in order to prevent him from detonating his explosive vest. Ninety people were killed, and hundreds of others were wounded. Almost all of the deceased victims were killed within the first 20 minutes of the attack. All of the hostages were rescued without injury.

Police dog A police dog, also known as a K-9 (phonemic abbreviation of canine), is a dog that is trained to assist police and other law enforcement officers. Their duties may include searching for drugs and explosives, locating missing people, findin ...

teams from the Brigade Cynophile assisted with body removal because of concerns that there could still be live explosives in the theatre. Identification and removal of the bodies took 10 hours, a process made difficult because some audience members had left their identity papers in the theatre's cloakroom.

Perpetrators

Three groups, comprising three men each, executed the attacks. They wore explosive vests and belts with identical detonators. Seven perpetrators died at the scenes of their attacks. The other two were killed five days later during the Saint-Denis police raid. The tenth participant, Salah Abdeslam, drove the Stade de France bombers to the stadium. He was supposed to execute a suicide bombing in the 18th arrondissement after dropping off the group, but he never did and disposed of his explosive vest. On 14 November, ISIL claimed responsibility for the attacks. François Hollande said ISIL organized the attacks with help from inside France. Claimed motives were an ideological objection to Paris as a capital of abomination and perversion, retaliation for airstrikes on ISIL in Syria and Iraq, and the foreign policy of Hollande in relation to Muslims worldwide. Shortly after the attacks, ISIL's media organ, the Al-Hayat Media Group, launched a website on the

dark web The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets ( overlay networks) that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communica ...

extolling the organization and recommending the encrypted instant messaging service

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

. Fabien Clain released an audio recording the day before the attacks in which he personally claimed responsibility for the attacks. Clain is known to intelligence services as a veteran jihadist belonging to ISIL, and of French nationality.

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

and

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

passports were found near the bodies of two of the perpetrators at two attack sites, but Egyptian authorities said the passport belonged to a victim, Aleed Abdel-Razzak, and not one of the perpetrators. By 16 November, the focus of the French and Belgian investigation turned to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the radical jihadist they believed was the leader of the plot. Abaaoud had escaped to Syria after having been suspected in other plots in Belgium and France, including the thwarted 2015 Thalys train attack. Abaaoud had recruited an extensive network of accomplices, including two brothers, Brahim Abdeslam and Salah Abdeslam, to execute terrorist attacks; Abaaoud was killed in the Saint-Denis raid on 18 November. Most of the Paris attackers were French- and Belgian-born citizens of Moroccan and Algerian backgrounds who crossed borders without difficulty, albeit registered as terrorism suspects. Two other attackers were Iraqi. According to the French prime minister,

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...

, several of the perpetrators had exploited Europe's immigration crisis to enter the continent undetected. At least some, including the alleged leader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, had visited Syria and returned radicalized. Jean-Charles Brisard, a French expert on terrorism, called this a change of paradigm, in that returning European citizens were themselves the attackers. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' reported that more than 3,000 Europeans have traveled to Syria and joined ISIL and other radical groups. On 30 August 2016, jihadist Abu Mohammad al-Adnani was killed by an American missile and DGSI declared that his death ended the terrorist who had supervised the attacks on Brussels and Paris.

Search for accomplices

Three cars were recovered in Paris after the attacks: # A grey

Volkswagen Polo The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car ( B-segment) produced by the German car manufacturer Volkswagen since 1975. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, and estate variants throughout its production run. As of 2 ...

with Belgian licence plates abandoned near the Bataclan was hired by a French citizen living in Belgium and contained a parking ticket from the town of Molenbeek. # A

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

was found in the Paris suburb of Montreuil on 15 November and contained three Zastava M70 assault rifles, ammunition, and three butcher knives. # A Renault Clio hired by Salah Abdeslam was discovered near

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

on 11 November and contained a butcher knife. Police described Salah, a 26-year-old Belgian citizen, as dangerous, and warned the public not to approach him. He was arrested on 18 March 2016 during an anti-terrorist raid in the Molenbeek area of Brussels (see below). His brother, Brahim, died in the attacks. Another brother, Mohamed, was detained on 14 November in the Molenbeek area of Brussels and released after several hours of questioning. Mohamed said he did not suspect his siblings of planning anything. On 14 November, a car was stopped at the Belgium-France border and its three occupants were questioned then released. Three more people were arrested in Molenbeek. Links to the attacks were investigated in an arrest in Germany on 5 November, when police stopped a 51-year-old man from Montenegro and found automatic handguns, hand grenades and explosives in his car. On 15-16 November, French tactical police units raided over 200 locations in France, arresting 23 people and seizing weapons. Another 104 people were placed under house arrest. On 17 November, police followed a female cousin of the attacker and ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, to a block of flats in Saint-Denis where they saw Abaaoud with her. The next day, police raided a flat in Saint-Denis, and Abaaoud was killed in the ensuing gunfight, which lasted several hours. Chakib Akrouh, one of the perpetrators of the restaurant shootings, also died during the raid after detonating an explosive vest. Eight suspected militants were arrested at or near the flat. On 23 November, an explosive belt was found in a litter bin in the Paris suburb of

Montrouge Montrouge () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased agai ...

. It may have been discarded by Salah Abdeslam, whose phone records showed that he was in Montrouge on the night of the attacks. On 24 November, five people in Belgium were charged on suspicion of their involvement in the Paris attacks, and Belgian prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Mohamed Abrini, a 30-year-old suspected accomplice of Salah Abdeslam. Abrini was subsequently reported to have been arrested on 8 April 2016. He is also suspected of having been involved in the 2016 Brussels bombings. On 9 December, two ISIL militants accompanying two of the Paris attackers into Europe, all masquerading as migrants, were arrested in Greece weeks before the attacks. In July 2016, a third militant involved was also arrested despite regular activity on Facebook from Belgium. The three militants were part of a unit intended to carry out further attacks on 13 November, but their plans were apparently disrupted by the first two arrests. Fabien Clain was identified as the person reading the ISIL claim of responsibility. Clain was a French national who served 5 years from 2009 to 2014 in a French prison for recruiting fighters to go to Syria for jihad. Clain has been linked to other executed and planned terror attacks and is seen as a leader of known terrorists. Jawad Bendaoud was arrested 18 November 2015 for "criminal terrorist association for the purpose of committing violent action", as he provided lodging for Abaaoud, Hasna Aït Boulahcen, and a third man. In September 2017, the prosecuting judge filed for Bendaoud's trial for "concealment of terrorist criminals", a charge with a maximum penalty of six years.

Analysis of tactics

Michael Leiter, former director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center, said the attacks demonstrated a sophistication not seen in a city attack since the

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...

and that it would change how the West regarded the threat. Further comparisons were made between the Paris- and Mumbai-attacks.

Mumbai Police The Greater Mumbai Police (Marathi language, Marathi: बृहन्मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Brihanmumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay City Police'') is the Police, police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a cit ...

Joint Commissioner (Law and Order) Deven Bharti pointed out the similarities as having several targets, shooting indiscriminately, and the use of

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

s. According to Bharti, one key difference was that the Mumbai attacks lasted several days, and the Paris attackers killed themselves as soon as capture seemed imminent. Evidence points to the attackers having regularly used unencrypted communications during the planning of the attack.

Casualties

The attackers killed 130 victims and injured 416, with 80 to 99 taken to hospital in serious condition. Of the dead, 90 died at the Bataclan theatre, 21 at La Belle Équipe, 13 at Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge, five at Café Bonne Bière and La Casa Nostra, and one at Stade de France. Among those who died at the Bataclan were a music critic of '' Les Inrockuptibles'', an executive of

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

France, and the merchandise manager of Eagles of Death Metal, the band that was performing. Some people suffered from

posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

(PTSD), including a man who died by suicide two years after the attacks. In May 2024, survivor and graphic novelist Fred Dewilde died by suicide nine years after the attacks, during which he depicted his trauma in several graphic novels.

Legal proceedings

On 8 September 2021, the trial of 20 men accused of planning and carrying out the attacks began in Paris in a custom-designed chamber within the Palais de Justice. The trial was expected to hear the testimony of over 300 witnesses and victims, including more than 300 lawyers, and was expected to last about nine months. The trial was filmed, however the film will not be released until fifty years after the conclusion of the trial. Of the 20 accused, fourteen were tried in person and six were tried in absentia. The trial concluded on 29 June 2022 with the conviction of all 20 defendants. Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving assailant in the attacks, received a sentence of life without parole. Of Abdeslam's 19 co-defendants, who were suspected of offering mostly logistical support or plotting other attacks, 18 were convicted on terrorism related charges, while one was convicted of a lesser fraud charge. In January 2022, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Georges Pompidou hospital was sued and faces possible misconduct charges after using a survivor's X-ray as a NFT (non-fungible token), without consulting her prior. The image was an X-ray of the survivor's forearm with a Kalashnikov bullet near the bone, and was listed as an X-ray of a survivor who had lost her boyfriend in the attack.

Responses

Local

The

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a form of user-generated tagging that enable ...

''#portesouvertes'' ("open doors") was used by Parisians to offer shelter to those afraid to travel home after the attacks. As had been the case in January after the ''Charlie Hebdo'' attacks, the

Place de la République The Place de la République (; English: Republic Square; known until 1879 as the Place du Château d'Eau, ) is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. The square has an area of .Warner, p. 250 ...

became a focal point of mourning, memorial, and tributes. An impromptu memorial also developed near the Bataclan theatre. On 15 November, two days after the attacks, a memorial service was held at

Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

, presided over by the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, with several political and religious figures in attendance. Muslim organizations in France, such as the Union of Islamic Organisations of France, strongly condemned the attacks in Paris. The attacks affected business at high-profile venues and shopping centres in Paris, and many Parisians were concerned the attacks might lead to a marginalization of Muslims in the city. There was not the same call for solidarity with Islam, as in January, following the attacks. Sales of the

French flag The national flag of France () is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue ( hoist side), white, and red. The design was adopted after the French Revolution, whose revolutionaries were influenced by the horizontally striped r ...

, which the French had rarely displayed prior to the attacks, increased dramatically after the attacks. France-Paris-Crying-Lady

On 4 December, the Bonne Bière café reopened, adorned by a banner with the defiant slogan "Je suis en terrasse" ("I'm on the Terrace"). A street cleaner told

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

that the city had removed six truckloads of wilted flowers and several kilograms of candles from memorials placed around this and the other shooting scenes: "We didn't really want to get rid of things, but it feels a bit like a cemetery with all the flowers."

National

Government

President Hollande issued a statement asking the French people to remain strong in the face of the attacks. He also visited the Bataclan theatre and vowed to "mercilessly" fight against terrorism. Hollande chaired an emergency meeting of the French Cabinet that night and directed his national security council to meet the next morning. The authorities urged the residents of Paris to stay indoors for their own safety and declared a state of emergency. Hollande canceled his trip to the 2015 G-20 Antalya summit because of the attacks, instead sending Foreign Minister

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. Fabius was 37 years old when he was a ...

and Finance Minister Michel Sapin as his representatives. On 14 November, Hollande announced three days of national mourning. On 16 November, Hollande convened a special

Congress of the French Parliament The Congress of the French Parliament () is the name given to the body created when both houses of the present-day French Parliament—the National Assembly (France), National Assembly and the Senate (France), Senate—meet at the Palace o ...

to address the attack and lay out legislative and diplomatic plans he wanted to take in response to them. These proposals included an extension of the state of emergency for three months, changes to the French constitution, one of which would have enabled France to protect itself from

dual citizen Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

s who might pose a risk, and an increase in military attacks against ISIL. On 4 December 2015, the French government published a guide in form of a cartoon on how to survive a terrorist attack. The guide is to be posted in public places and be available online. In July 2016, the French government published the report of a commission of inquiry, presided over by Georges Fenech, into possible security failings relating to the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. The report recommended the establishment of a single "national anti-terrorism agency". In August 2016, minister of the interior Bernard Cazeneuve stated that about 20 radicalized mosques and more than 80 hate preachers had been expelled from France since 2012.

Military

On 15 November, the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

launched the biggest airstrike of Opération Chammal, its bombing campaign against ISIL, sending 10 aircraft to drop 20 bombs on

Raqqa Raqqa (, also , Kurdish language, Kurdish: ''Reqa'') is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and b ...

, the city where ISIL is based. On 16 November, the French Air Force carried out more airstrikes on ISIL targets in Raqqa, including a command centre and a training camp. On 18 November 2015, French aircraft carrier ''

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

'' left its home port of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

heading towards the eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

to support bombing operations carried out by the international coalition. This decision was taken before the November attacks but was accelerated by the events. French authorities regularly gave detailed information to US authorities on the whereabouts of high-ranking IS members in the Syria-Iraq zone to be tracked and killed. This cooperation led to American air strikes being able to kill the planners of the 13 November 2015 attacks. United States authorities cooperated as they consider that if terrorist attacks hadn't taken place in France, they would have done so in the US instead.

Public

Applications to join the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

, which were around 100-150 per day in 2014, rose to 1,500 in the week following the attacks, higher than the rise to 400 after the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting in January.

Domestic politics

All major political parties, including Hollande's governing Socialist Party,

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

's National Front, and

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

's Republicans temporarily suspended their election campaigns for the upcoming French regional elections. There was a nationwide minute of silence at noon which President Hollande and several ministers observed at a ceremony at the Paris Sorbonne University. On 18 November, Hollande reaffirmed France's commitment to accept 30,000 Syrian refugees over the next two years. This was despite the doubts that the terror attack had sown in people's minds. His announcement drew a standing ovation from a gathering of French mayors. However, in the election campaign for the regional elections of France, to begin on 6 December 2015, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National party who was vying to be president of the Nord-Pas de Calais area, was recommending hardline security measures. She was getting a great deal of media attention with her strong anti-immigrant stance and may have been helping to sway public opinion across France. "The influx of migrants must be stopped," Le Pen told the CBC in an interview. Le Pen was doing well in opinion polls as of early December 2015. Since the elections would start only weeks after the Paris attacks, she was thought to be getting dividends from the timing, when the fear of terrorism was still very strong.

European Union

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...

, President of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, rejected calls to rethink the European Union's policy on migration. Dismissing suggestions that open borders led to the attacks, Juncker said he believed that the attacks should be met with a stronger display of liberal values, including internal open borders. European Commission Vice-president Federica Mogherini and EU defence ministers unanimously backed France's request for help in military missions. The United Kingdom has stated its intent to help France with operations in Syria, while some countries intend to aid France by taking over activities in Africa. Germany announced sending troops to Mali and military trainers to Kurdish forces in Iraq, and on 4 December voted in favor of deploying aircraft and a frigate in an effort to aid the French forces over Syria. The attacks prompted European officials to re-evaluate their stance on EU policy toward migrants, especially in light of the ongoing

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...

. Many German officials believed a higher level of scrutiny was needed, and criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while the German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel defended her. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that he would meet with EU ministers to discuss how to deal with terrorism across the European Union. Meeting reports indicated that Schengen area border controls have been tightened for EU citizens entering or leaving, with passport checks and systematic screening against biometric databases. Poland's European affairs minister designate Konrad Szymański declared that he saw no possibility of enacting the recent EU refugee relocation scheme. The new Prime Minister of Poland, Beata Szydło said she would ask the EU to change its decision on refugee quotas. Szydło said Poland would honor the commitment made by the previous government to accommodate 9,000 refugees. Hungary's prime minister,

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

, rejected the concept of mandatory resettlement quotas. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka criticized President

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician who served as the third president of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023. He also previously served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...

for supporting anti-Islamic groups and spreading hatred, according to Reuters, whose report added that the Sobotka government had been deporting migrants.

Intelligence review

Shortly after the attacks, intelligence staff in multiple countries began to review electronic surveillance recorded before the attacks.

Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A m ...

, the ranking Democratic member of the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he did not know of any intercepted communications that would have provided warning of the attacks. One source said the French National Police met with German police and intelligence services a month before the attack to discuss suspicions that terrorists were staking out possible targets in France. The exact targets were not known at that time. Police in Germany stopped a car on 5 November, arrested its driver, and confiscated weapons that may have been connected to the Paris attacks. Some of the attackers were known to law enforcement officials prior to the attacks, and at least some of the attackers lived in the Molenbeek area of Brussels, which is noted for its links to extremist activities. A counter-terrorism expert said the fact that the perpetrators were known to authorities suggested that intelligence was "pretty good" but the ability to act on it was lacking. The number of Europeans who have links to Syria makes it difficult for security services to keep track of them all. On 26 December 2015, "Belgian newspaper ''De Morgen'' reported that a police oversight body, known as Committee P," is investigating why prior warnings from a school about the radicalization of one of the attackers, Bilal Hadfi, were not reported to Belgian law enforcement. On 8 March 2021, Italian police arrested a 36-year-old

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n man on suspicion of helping authors of the Paris attacks and for belonging to the

Islamic State group The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

. It was reported that he had "guaranteed the availability of forged documents" to the Paris attackers.

Security changes

In France

In response to the attacks, France was put under an ''état d'urgence'' (state of emergency) for the first time since the 2005 riots, borders were temporarily closed, and 1,500 soldiers were called in to help the police maintain order in Paris. The '' plan blanc'' (Île de France) and '' plan rouge'' (global), two

contingency plan A contingency plan, or alternate plan, also known colloquially as Plan B, is a plan devised for an outcome other than in the usual (expected) plan. It is often used for risk management for an exceptional risk that, though unlikely, would have cata ...

s for times of emergency, were immediately activated. Flights to and from

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport, is the primary international airport serving Paris, the capital city of France. The airport opened in 1974 and is located in Roissy-en-France, northeast of Paris. It is named for ...

and

Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (, ) is one of two international airports serving Paris, France, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi, south of Paris. It serves as a sec ...

were mostly unaffected.

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

delayed flights to Paris until further notice. Many

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

stations in the 10th and 11th arrondissements were shut down because of the attacks.

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

suspended car hails in Paris after the attacks. All state schools and universities in Paris remained closed the next day. Sports events in France for the weekend of 14-15 November were postponed or canceled.

Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...

, which had operated every day since opening in 1992, closed its parks as a mark of respect for those who died in the attacks. The

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

, a Paris landmark visited by 20,000 people a day, was closed for two days. Other venues that were to remain closed included shops and cinemas. Protests were banned until 19 November, while bands such as U2,

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

, and

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

cancelled performances in Paris. The week after 20 November, Hollande was planning to travel to the US and Russia to discuss greater international co-operation against ISIL.

State of emergency

On 13 November, President Hollande declared the

. On 20 November, the Senate in France agreed to extend the current state of emergency by three months; this measure gave police extra powers of detention and arrest intended to increase security, at the expense of some personal liberties. Public demonstrations of environmental activists during COP21, held in Paris from 30 November to 12 December 2015, were prevented from happening under the state of emergency regulations, while others were allowed. The state of emergency was extended until the end of July 2016.'Frankrijk trekt onvoldoende lering uit de aanslagen' ('France learns not enough from the attacks')

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country. History was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...

, 12 May 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016. François Heisbourg is cited as saying: "The state of emergency has now been extended twice, the last time until end of July 2016". Further extensions followed after the attack in Nice on 14 July 2016.

Belgium

Belgium immediately on 13 November tightened security along its border with France and increased security checks for people arriving from France. Starting on 21 November 2015, the government of Belgium imposed a security

lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

, including the closure of shops, schools, public transportation, due to information about potential terrorist attacks in the wake of the series of coordinated attacks in Paris. One of the perpetrators of the attack, Belgian-born French national Salah Abdeslam, was thought to be hiding in the city. As a result of warnings of a serious and imminent threat, the terror alert level was raised to the highest level (four) across the Brussels metropolitan area, and people were advised not to congregate publicly, effectively putting the city under

International

Cities in the United States took security precautions, especially at sites where large crowds were expected, as well as sports events, concerts, the French embassy and other French government sites. William J. Bratton, the

New York City Police Commissioner The New York City police commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is responsibl ...

, said the Paris attacks have changed the way law enforcement deals with security. Singapore raised its national security alert level, stepping up border checks and security across the city-state. Police and military authorities in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

were placed on full alert in preparation for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

International reactions

Je suis Paris Luxembourg-ville 2015 large

Many heads of state and heads of government, as well as the United Nations, offered messages of condolence and solidarity in the wake of the attacks. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that made it more difficult for Syrian and Iraqi refugees to enter the United States. At least 31 governors of

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s declared they would refuse to accept Syrian refugees.

Muslim officials

Muslim heads of state, scholars,

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

s, leaders and groups condemned the attacks, many before ISIL claimed responsibility. These included the imam who heads the university of Al-Azhar in Egypt; the Supreme council of Religious Scholars in Saudi Arabia; Iranian president

Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani (; born Hassan Fereydoun, 12 November 1948) is an Iranian peoples, Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. He is also a sharia lawyer ("Wakil"), academic, former diplomat and Islamic cl ...

and the

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...

caliph Mirza Masroor Ahmad. Syrian president

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

condemned the attacks, but added that France's support for Syrian rebel groups had contributed to the spread of terrorism. France had been a particularly vocal opponent of Assad during the Syrian civil war. Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam, the major mainstream Islamist rebels against the Syrian regime, both condemned the attacks. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

, condemned the attacks, and expressed his solidarity with the French people. Other militant groups also condemned the attacks, including

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

and

Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), commonly known simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinians, Palestinian Islamism, Islamist paramilitary organization formed in 1981. P ...

. The

al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist ...

, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, praised the attacks, saying that even though they viewed ISIL as "dogs of hellfire", they applauded when "

infidels An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligion, irreligious people. Infidel is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical term in Ch ...

" get attacked by ISIL.

Related incidents

Hanover bombing plot

A few days after the attacks, on 17 November, a football friendly set to be played at HDI-Arena in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

between Germany (who had just been present at the Stade de France during the Paris attacks) and the Netherlands was cancelled and thousands of football fans evacuated from the arena following a bomb threat. The match, having been hailed as a "symbol of freedom" after the Paris attacks, was set to be attended in a show of solidarity with France by German chancellor Angela Merkel, vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, several other German government ministers, as well as Dutch defence minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and health and sport minister Edith Schippers. According to a French intelligence dossier, five bombs had been prepared to be detonated at or around the stadium by a named five-member terror cell in a series of coordinated bomb attacks. German authorities refused to give more details on findings, with Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere claiming that "some of these answers would alarm the public." While police claimed to not have found any explosives, German newspapers published allegations of a cover-up, which claimed that a paramedic had witnessed explosives hidden in an ambulance at the stadium, before being told by special forces at the scene "to not talk about it." Another newspaper claimed it had been a truck bomb disguised as an ambulance. Three police officers were disciplined for leaking information about alleged bomb finds. At the same time also in Hanover, the

TUI Arena ZAG-Arena (formerly Preussag Arena and TUI Arena) is an arena in Hanover, Germany. The arena opened in 2000. It holds 10,767 during hockey or handball matches and up to 14,000 during concerts. It is the biggest indoor venue in the Hanover Region, ...

was evacuated before a concert by the band Söhne Mannheims, and a train station was closed off after a suspicious device was found. Later the same evening, two

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

flights headed from the United States to Paris were diverted to

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

and

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

because of bomb threats. The events followed the previous day, when a football match set to be played in

between Belgium and Spain had also been cancelled over security concerns.

2016 Brussels raids

On 15 March 2016, Belgian police carried out a raid on a house in the suburb of

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

in Brussels. A police statement said that the raid was related to the Paris attacks. Four police officers were wounded in the raid, and a manhunt for escaped suspects followed. On 18 March 2016, there were further raids in the Molenbeek area of Brussels. Two suspects were reportedly injured in one such raid and a third suspect was killed. Five people, one identified as Salah Abdeslam, suspected accomplice in the Paris attacks, were arrested during the raid.

Media depictions

One of the people who was present in the Bataclan theatre on 13 November 2015 during the terrorist attacks was a French artist who works under the pseudonym ''Fred Dewilde''. In October 2016, he published a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

about his firsthand experience of these tragic events, named ''Mon Bataclan''. On 27 April 2016, American rock band

Pierce the Veil Pierce the Veil is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 2006. It was founded by brothers Vic Fuentes, Vic and Mike Fuentes (musician), Mike Fuentes after the disbanding of Before Today, which formed out of the San Diego Pu ...

released a song titled " Circles", inspired by the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. On 6 June 2018, Gédéon and Jules Naudet released the documentary '' November 13: Attack on Paris''. On 5 October 2022, the French film ''

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. November was the ninth month of the calendar of Romulus . November retained its name (from the Latin ''novem'' meaning " ...

'' was released, directed by Cédric Jimenez and starring

Jean Dujardin Jean Edmond Dujardin (; born 19 June 1972) is a French actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in Paris before guest starring in comedic television programmes and films. He first came to prominence with the cult TV series ...

, that depicts the investigations and the interventions of the police (in particular of the anti-terrorist sub-directorate) during the five days which followed the attacks. Alice Winocour's 2022 feature film ''Revoir Paris'' (''Paris Memories'') looked at the effects of the aftermath of a group of people trapped in an attached bistro and starred Virginie Efira. A 4-part miniseries named ''Les Espions de la Terreur'' was released by M6 in 2024. It shows the aftermath of the November attacks through the eyes of the French Secret Service.

Notes

References

External links

Investigation
at

Timeline
an
updates
at

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...